Books
-The Eastern League in Baseball: A Statistical History, 1923-2005
-Baseball in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching the National Pastime
-Jews And Baseball: A History, 1871-1948
-Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
-Pro
Football Prospectus 2006
-Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
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Utley runs past Rollins in '06
October 16 2006
Here's a look at the offensive leaders for the Phillies for the past two seasons:
|
Phillies offensive leaders |
|||||
|
2006 |
2005 |
||||
| G | Utley | 160 | G | Abreu | 162 |
| AB | Rollins | 689 | AB | Rollins | 677 |
| R | Utley | 131 | R | Rollins | 115 |
| H | Utley | 203 | H | Rollins | 196 |
| 2B | Rollins | 45 | 2B | Utley | 39 |
| 3B | Rollins | 9 | 3B | Rollins | 11 |
| HR | Howard | 58 | HR | Burrell | 32 |
| RBI | Howard | 149 | RBI | Burrell | 117 |
| BB | Howard | 108 | BB | Abreu | 117 |
| SO | Howard | 181 | SO | Burrell | 160 |
| SB | Rollins | 36 | SB | Rollins | 41 |
| AVG | Howard | .313 | AVG | Utley | .291 |
| OBP | Howard | .425 | OBP | Abreu | .405 |
| SLG | Howard | .659 | SLG | Utley | .540 |
The biggest surprises for me involved Chase Utley. First, in a demonstration in benefits of hitting in front of Ryan Howard, he scored more runs than Rollins in 2006 despite the fact that Rollins scored the most runs of his career. Utley's 131 led the National League while Rollins was tied for second with Carlos Beltran at 127. Assuming Rollins is leading off for the Phils till the time at which he keels over, the Phillies need someone to hit in-between Rollins and Utley. It would be ducky if Shane Victorino proves to be the guy, but the idea of going into 2007 with Rowand in center and a Victorino/Conine platoon in right seems like it has disaster written all over it.
Utley was one of only
seven players in all of baseball to come up with 200 or more hits this year.
He was second in the NL behind Juan Pierre, who needs to win some kind of
award for managing to have a miserable season while leading his league in
hits. Pierre had 204 while hitting 292/330/388 in 699 at-bats.
The other surprise for me about Utley was that he had outslugged Burrell in
2005. Burrell had a great year in '05, hitting 281/389/504 with 32 home
runs and 117 RBI. He had 60 extra-base hits. Utley hit 291/376/540 with 73
extra-base hits in fewer at-bats. Burrell had 562 at-bats, Utley 543 in
'05.
Speculation abounds
here and
here about a Burrell for A-Rod deal. I
strongly advise against holding your breath.
Elsewhere, the Mets evened up the NLCS at two games apiece by beating the
Cardinals 12-5 in Game 4 in St Louis. Tony LaRussa pinch-hit for starter
Anthony Reyes in the bottom of the fourth in a 2-2 game. His pen would go
on to allow ten runs on 11 hits in five innings.
Carlos Delgado was 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBI for the Mets. He's
6-for-15 with three homers and nine RBI in the four games so far. Beltran
was 3-for-3 with two homers and is 5-for-15 with three walks in the series.
David Wright was 1-for-4 with a homer but is just 1-for-13 in the NLCS.
Pujols is 4-for-7 in the two games the Cardinals have won in the series.
After going 0-for-4 last night he's 0-for-7 in the two games they've lost.
Game 5 is tonight and features a matchup between Tom Glavine and Jeff
Weaver, two pitchers who have been superb in the post-season. Glavine is
2-0 in the playoffs and has thrown to a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings. Weaver is
1-1 with a 1.69 ERA. The two squared off in Game 1, which the Mets won 2-0
thanks to Glavine and a two-run homer from Beltran in the bottom of the
sixth.
No games yesterday in the Arizona Fall League. The 2-3 Saguaros face the
Phoenix Desert Dogs this afternoon.